Lately, I’ve noticed my expenses are getting out of control, and it feels like I’m wasting money on things that don’t really contribute to my work.
It’s tough to decide what to trim without affecting the quality I offer to clients.
I just buy what breaks and skip the fancy stuff.
Keep an eye on your spending for a month. It helps identify what’s really eating your budget.
Office supplies hit different when you actually look at what you’re buying. I was getting the premium everything - fancy pens, expensive paper, branded folders. Switched to basic supplies and literally nobody noticed.
Same with business meals. Used to take clients to expensive places thinking it impressed them. Turns out coffee meetings work just as well and cost 80% less.
Also check your phone and internet plans. Most small businesses overpay for features they never use. I was on some premium business plan with unlimited everything when I barely used half the basic allowance.
One thing that saved me hundreds - stopped buying backup equipment for stuff that rarely breaks. Had three printers when one worked fine for years.
Start with the stuff you pay monthly but barely touch. I had services running that I forgot about completely.
Also check if you can get the same result with free alternatives. Sometimes the paid version isn’t worth it when the free one does exactly what you need.
For equipment, buy used instead of new when possible. Works just as well and saves a lot of money upfront.
Track every receipt for two weeks and sort them into three piles: must have, nice to have, and what was I thinking. You’ll be surprised how much falls into that last pile. I cut my tool expenses in half by asking one simple question for each purchase: did this make me money last month? If not, it goes. Your clients care about results, not how many fancy apps you have running.
Look closely at your subscriptions and memberships. Many times, we have way too many.
Check your bank statements for:
- Software you rarely use
- Multiple tools fulfilling the same need
- Memberships you’ve forgotten about
- Features in services that you never use
I managed to slash my expenses by about 40% just by doing this. I was paying for three project management tools when I only really needed one.
Also consider downgrading plans instead of canceling. Sometimes, the basic plan has all the features you need.